Many web sites, forums, and knowledge bases allow elements to be ranked or rated based on quality, content, and/or satisfaction. For example, a web site that sells goods may allow individual purchasers to rank the goods, and a web site that provides documents or articles may allow individual readers to rank the documents or articles. The rankings are often provided based on scales that are based on points, e.g., a scale that ranges between one point and five points may be such that a ranking of one point indicates a high level of dissatisfaction while a ranking of five points indicates a high level of satisfaction. Rankings provided by different individuals with respect to an element are typically averaged to provide an “overall ranking” for the element.
Rankings associated with a web site, forum, or knowledge base may change as time progresses. By way of example, as information on a web site may be time-sensitive, the information may become more inaccurate and/or less valuable over time. As a result, the rankings provided by users may trend lower as time progresses if the information on a web site becomes more inaccurate and/or less valuable over time. The overall ranking for information is determined by averaging the rankings provided by the users and, as a result, older rankings are considered with the same weight as newer rankings.